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Bond 25 Sets November 2019 Release Date

MGM and Eon recently announced that James Bond would return to cinemas November 2019 for his twenty-fifth official adventure, which has naturally raised a few questions.

Ever since Daniel Craig expressed a strong desire not to go back for another Bond sequel, we've all be speculating over which actor might take his place. Some of those names include Tom Hardy, Aidan Turner, Idris Elba, Jack Huston and Tom Hiddleston have all been favourites at one time or another, yet we're no closer to discovering who will be wearing the tuxedo.

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Craig has since warmed to the idea of playing Bond, but eighteen months on from Spectre, and he's still not signed a contract. Varietyclaims that "it's likely that Daniel Craig will be returning," but other outlets have pointed out that Craig's upcoming schedule might not be able to accommodate a 2019 release.

Aside from not presently having a leading actor, Bond 25 is currently without a distributor since its deal with Sony expired after Spectre. The hot favourite to pick up those potentially lucrative rights is Warner Bros, and a shortlist of directors has recently emerged. Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson have met (separately) with filmmakers Yann Demange ('71, White Boy Rick), Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Blade Runner 2049), and David Mackenzie (Hell or High Water). Variety cites Yann Demange asthe frontrunner, so if you were expecting those Christopher Nolan rumours to pan out, prepare to be disappointed.

The Daniel Craig Bond era has produced the same ratio of good movies as his predecessor Pierce Brosnan in the same order. Goldeneye and Casino Royale (both directed by Martin Campbell) were impressive reinventions that successfully introduced new Bonds. Both were followed by less well-received follow-ups, Tomorrow Never Dies for Brosnan and The Quantum of Solace for Craig, but got back on track third time round with The World is Not Enough and Skyfall. Brosnan's swansong, Die Another Day, ranks as one of the worst Bond movies ever made, well until Spectre came along.

While Demange has a longstanding body of work directing TV shows like Top Boy and Charlie Brooker's Dead Set, he only has two features under his belt and taking on a Bond film is no easy task. In many ways, I hope Craig opts out of returning as he seems to have remembered how to have fun with what looks like a standout performance in Steven Soderbergh's Logan Lucky.